Charles n



' A C. N. GHOATE.

LID SUPPORT.

No. 660,666. 4126.6616666 16657726, 1696.y

UNITED STATES `PATENT OEEICE. i

CHARLES N. Ol-IOAIIE, OF GREENVILLE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR `OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN H. SERVISS, OF SAME PLACE.

LID-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,838, dated May 26, 1896.

Application fled March 5 1894:.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES N. CHOATE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenville,'in the county of `Montcalm and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lid-Supports; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a support for the lid or cover of a sideboard, refrigerator, chest, trunk, or similar receptacle; and the object in view is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device which may be readily attached to a receptacle without change of the construction of the latter, and, furthermore, to provide a support adapted to hold the lid or cover in a slightly-inclined position either toward the rear or toward the front, as may be required. t

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lid-support embodying my invention applied in the operative position to the lid of a chest. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, showing the positions of the parts when the lid is inclined to the rear. Fig. 3 is a side view showing the positions of the parts when the lid is inclined to the front, as may be necessary to avoid striking a bracket rising above the plane of the top of a receptacle. Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspective of the lidsupport, the parts being detached.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l designates a chest or receptacle, which may be of any preferred construction, and 2 the lid thereof, said lid being adapted to be held in its open position by means of the support 3, which consists of an embodiment of my invention. This support is of sectional construction, one section, 4, being hollow or provided with a guide 5, and the other section, G, being arranged to slide in said guide.

Serial No. 502,456. (No model.)

The hollow section 4 is preferably formed of a sheet-metal strip having its lateral edges folded inward or toward each other to form lips or flanges 7, a washer Sbeing interposed between said lips or flanges and the body portion of the strip at one end to preventthe forcing of the lips or flanges into contact with the body of the strip. The other member, 6, of the support consists of aiiat strip arranged to slide in the guide formed in the member and engaged at its edges bythe overhan ging lips or flanges 7 of said member 4t.

The hollow member of the support is pivotally connected at one end to the lid or cover 2, and the opposite end of the slide or member 6 is similarly pivoted to the body of the receptacle contiguous to and in front of the plane of the hinges 9, by which the lid or cover is secured to the receptacle. The pivotal point 10 of the lower extremity of the slide 6 is sufficiently in advance of the plane of the hinges 9 to allow the lid 2 to assume an inclined position toward the rear before the rear or upper edge of the support comes in contact with the front or under surface of the lid, and when said parts come in Contact in the manner described the lid is positively supported at a slight inclination to the rear, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. When, however, it is necessary to support the lid in an inclined position toward the front, as when the receptacle is provided with an upright bracketll or its equivalent, as shown in Fig. 3, it is necessary to provide the slide 6 with means for engaging the hollow or guide member to prevent the collapsing or sliding together of the members. This I accomplish by forming a shoulder l2 on the slide 6 toengage the lower or free extremity of the hollow or guide member, said shoulder being formed in the lower or front edge of the slide,whereby as the lid is raised at its free edge from a horizontal position the weight of the connected ends of the members willhold the latter in perfect alinement and thus insure the extension of the support without unnecessary friction. Vhen the extension has proceeded until the shoulder 12 is slightly below the lower or free extremity of the hollow or guide member, a slight backward pressure upon the free end of the hollow member will throw the connected IOO ends of the members toward the plane of the lid and thus project the shoulder 12 into the path of the lower end of the member 4, as shown in Fig. 3. When it is desired to release and lower the lid, the lower free end of the hollow member is pressed to the front suiiieiently to cause the alinement of the members and the consequent disengagement of the lower extremity of the member 4 from the shoulder 12. Thus it will be seen that the lidsupport embodying my invention and applied as above described to a lid or cover will support the latter without special adjustmentin either of the two positions named. In other words, said support is designed to hold the lid or cover in an inclined position toward the front, the extent of inclination being dependent solely upon the point at which the shoulder 12 is formed and the points of pivotal connection of the remote extremities of the members to the cover and receptacle, and at the same time if the lid is not provided with other means for checking its backward movement the support will serve as a stop when the plane of the lid or cover is parallel with the plane of inclination of the support, as shown in Fig. 2. rIhus the device embodying my invention performs the double function of a lid-support and a lid-stop, said stop operatin g to check the backward movement of a lid or cover before injury to the hinges can occur.

The lower extremity of the slide member G of the support is spaced from the inner surface of the side wall of the receptacle by an interposed washer 13 to provide a sufficient interval between the contiguous surfaces of said member 6 and the wall of the receptacle to allow the guide member-,t to operate freely, and the washer 8, which is interposed between the flanges or lips 7 of the hollow member,

prevents the crushing` of the lips upon the body portion of such member when the pivotscrew 14 is tightened.

It is obvious that the manner of mounting the improved support, in so far as relates to the connection of the 'remote extremities of its members to the lid and body portion is concerned, may be modiiied to suit the construction of the receptacle, and various other changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- The combination with a receptacle having a hinged lid or cover, of a lid-support having telescoping members of which the exterior or guide member is pivotally connected to the lid contiguous to the plane of the inner or lower surface thereof and the interior or slide member is pivotally connected to the side wall of the receptacle at a point in advance of and contiguous to the vertical plane of the hinged edge of the lid, whereby when the lid is inclined slightly to the rear one edge of the support bears against the inner or lower surface of the lid and checks the backward movement of the latter, said interior or slide member being provided in its front edge at an intermediate point with a shoulder adapted to engage the lower extremity of the exterior or guide member when the members are extended to support the lid in an inclined position toward the front, substantially as specilied.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES N. CHOATE. IVitnesses:

EDWARD J. BowMAN, JOHN H. SERvIss. 

